4 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PICTURE. 


><>ck>;.:x>c><>o<>c»c<>c<>c<>o<><xxx: 

X>^C>::>'X>CKx;X>C<><:>'XXXXXX>'C! 

xxxxxx 
iocc  ocx 
xxxxxx 


,-XiXiX.X.^X 
X-CK-K-KX 
X'xX«X 
XXXXXX 

>ooc<xx 

XXXXXX 
XXXX'XX 


:<xxxxx 

<xxxxx>o< 


THE 


SEEAETITRE  ©F  THE  ISRAELITES 

OUT  OE  EGYPT. 


5 


m. 

P: 


Q&fS&r  MW  WSSS  S:S@mMSSM 

AT  N  I B  L  0’8  GARDEN,  BROADWAY, 

FROM  a  O'CLOCK  'TILL  DUSK, 
ADMlTTAJiCK  TWENTY-FIVE  CENTS. 


The  general  ("(feet  of  the  Picture  is  impressive  and  powerful  in  the  extreme,  and 
has  Iteen  painted  with  such  extraordinary  illusion  as  to  lead  the 
mind  to  contemplate  it  as  a  subject  o  reality. 

The  Saloon  from  which  Spectators  view  the  Painting  is  made  comfortably  warm,  and, 
from  the  arrangement  of  the  lights,  the  Picture  is  seen  to  as  great 
advantage  in  dull  weather  as  fair. 


BOOKS  DESCRIPTIVE  OF  THE  PICTURE 

For  Sale  at  the  Ticket  Office,  Price  12*  Cents. 

Young'  Ladies’  Schools  admitted  on  Moderate  Terms.  • 

- .H$»« - ' 


Printed  by  J.  Booth  &  Sou.  147,  Fulton-street,  New-York. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PICTURE. 


xxxxxxxxx>.xxx)c<x>xxx3 

xxxxxx 


XXXX XX 

xxxxxx 

xxxxxx 

xxxxxx 

xxxxxx 

xxxxxx 

xxxxxx 

xxxxxx 

xxxxxx 


XXJCOOCOCOOC 
>o<xxxxx.xxx.xxxxxxxxxv  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 


XXXXXOiXXXXXXXXX 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

XXXXXX 

xxxxxx 
xxxxxx 
xxxxxx 
xxxxxx 
xxxxxx 
xxxxxx 

XXXXXX 
xxxxxx 
xxxxxx 

XXXXXX 
xxxxxx 
xxxxxx 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 


THE 


BEPASTUES  or  TMB  ISRAELITES 

OUT  OF  EGYPT. 


AT  NIBLO’S  GARDEN,  BROADWAY, 

FROM  9  O'CLOCK  ’ TILL  DUSK, 

ADMITTANCE  TWENTY-FIVE  CENTS, 


The  genera]  effect  of  the  Picture  is  impressive  and  powerful  in  the  extreme,  and 
has  been  painted  with  such  extraordinary  illusion  as  to  lead  the 
mind  to  contemplate  it  as  a  subject  of  reality. 


The  Saloon  from  which  Spectators  view  the  Painting  is  made  comfortably  warm,  and, 
from  the  arrangement  of  the  lights,  the  Picture  is  seen  to  as  gTeat 
advantage  in  dull  weather  as  fair. 


BOOKS  DESCRIPTIVE  OF  THE  PICTURE 

For  Sale  at  the  Ticket  Office,  Price  12}  Cents. 

Young*  Ladies’  Schools  admitted  ou  Moderate  Terms, 


Printed  by  J.  Booth  &  Son.  147,  Fulton-street,  New-York. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PICTURE. 


The  Picture  represents  the  dawn  of  day,  the  morning  sun  lighting  on 
the  gigantic  Pyramids  in  the  distance,  then  falling  in  slant  lines  across 
the  stately  Obelisks  and  Pinnacles  which  adorn  the  prodigious  mass  of 
Palaces  and  Temples  which  are  richly  imagined  and  exquisitely  drawn. 

On  a  raised  terrace  in  the  left  foreground  of  the  picture  and  in  the 
gate  of  his  Palace  is  seen  Pharoah,  standing  under  a  superb  canopy  of 
peacock  feathers,  surrounded  by  his  court.  Pharoah  with  evident 
amazement  and  consternation  is  contemplating  the  departure  of  the  Is¬ 
raelites,  which  he  dared  not  oppose.  Opposite  to  him  and  in  front  of 
an.  enormous  Egyptian  statue,  are  the  two  leaders,  Moses  and  Aaron, 
directing  the  route  of  the  Hebrews,  (which  are  supposed  to  have 
amounted  to  two  millions,  including  men,  women,  and  children,)  while 
the  space  between  the  buildings,  for  an  interminable  distance  appears 
filled  with  a  continuous  mass  of  Israelites,  who  are  marching  out  in 
order  with  their  Banners,  Ensigns ,  Camels,  Flocks,  and  Elephants. 
The  tops  of  the  Palaces,  Towers,  and  Terraces,  are  crowded  wifh 
Egyptians  looking  on. 


THE 


DEPARTURE  OF  THE  ISRAELITES. 


This  subject  is  beautifully  described  in  the  follounng  description, 
from  a  tradition  from  the  Coptic 


Blessed  be  the  memory  of  my  father  Amrou,  and  of  his  father  Pithom, 
and  of  his  father  Zalapheel.  I  have  built  their  sepulchre.  I  have  annomt- 
ed  it,  perfumed  it,  and  sealed  it  with  the  seal  of  Osarsiph.  The  dragon, 
the  falcon,  and  the  crocodile,  shall  guard  it  from  the  hand  of  man-  It  shall 
remain  for  ten  thousand  years.  Egypt  shall  be  dust  and  ashes,  and  again 
she  shall  be  glorious.  Again  Egvpt  shall  be  dust  and  ashes.  She  shall 
again  be  clothed  in  purple,  and  wave  the  sceptre  over  the  land;  from  the 
stormy  and  ever  rolling  sea  of  the  north  to  the  hills  where  the  sun  looks 
down  upon  the  crystal  caverns  and  fathomless  gold  mines  of  Ethiopia,  and 
the  moon  sows  the  soil  with  opaz  and  emeralds.  And  again  Egypt  shall  be 
dust  and  ashes,  before  the  hand  of  man  shall  unseal  the  triple  guard  of  the 
sepulchre  of  my  fathers. 

In  the  chest  that  contains  the  mummy  of  my  lord  and  honoured  father, 
Amrou,  I  have  laid  the  papyrus,  which  tells  of  the  fate  of  his  son  in  the 
most  awful  transaction  of  my  country.  It  is  not  written  for  the  eye  of 
mortal  man.  But,  when  the  ten  thousand  years  of  the  sepulchre  are  fled 
like  a  dream,  and  the  sages  and  warriors,  the  priests  and  kings,  of  Egypt, 
whom  our  love  embalmed,  shall  come  forth  from  the  places  of  their  rest, 
and,  unswathing  their  immortal  limbs  from  the  mantles  of  silk  wrought 
with  the  words  of  wisdom,  and  the  golden  network  alone  worthy  to  pre¬ 
serve  the  holy  and  the  renowned,  shall  again  behold  the  sun,  and  rejoice  in 
the  coming  of  the  days  of  glory,  and  lead  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  the 
oracles  of  wisdom;  then  shall  I  sit  beside  the  waters  of  the  Nile  in  the 
eircle  of  my  forefathers,  and  my  children,  even  to  the  hundredth  generation, 
and  read  the  records  of  the  days  of  our  fame  and  our  terrors  under  the  lotus 
tree  of  immortality. 

****** 

I  was  sitting  in  my  tent,  at  the  close  of  one  of  those  lovely  days  which 
usher  in  the  spring  of  our  matchless  land,  when  I  was  roused  by  the  intel¬ 
ligence  that  a  great  tumult  had  begun  among  the  slaves  who  worked  in  the 
fields.  I  listened  with  disdain  to  the  idea,  that  those  hereditary  beasts  of 
burthen,  those  tillers  of  the  soil,  those  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water. 


f 


4 

the  abject  Hebrews,  could  lift  tbeir  eyes  against  the  shining  of  the  spears 
pf  Egypt.  General  of  the  fourth  army  of  our  illustrious  kingdom,  the  army 
of  the  golden  shield  hearers,  who  had  conquered  all  the  tribes  of  Nubia  and 
Ethiopia,  from  the  edge  of  the  desert  to  the  highest  ridge  of  the  mountains, 
which  make  the  girdle  of  the  w  orld,  I  only  demanded  a  word  from  the  foot¬ 
stool  of  the  throne  of  my  king,  the  son  of  a  hundred  kings,  to  crush  those 
sons  of  rebellion  like  the  ants  of  the  desert,  or  scatter  them  wide  like  the 
ashes  of  the  furnace  to  all  the  winds  of  heaven.  I  had  just  brought  back 
the  army  from  our  conquest.  It  now  lay  encamped  before  me — a  magnifi¬ 
cent  sight,  spreading  to  the  horizon,  with  its  plunder,  its  prisoners,  and  the 
forest  of  waving  and  bright  coloured  banners  torn  from  the  diamond-turban- 
ed  kings  of  the  mountains.  Zaraph,  the  ancient  prince  of  the  dwellers  in 
the  East  Oasis — that  spot  of  living  fountains,  which  looks  green  in  the 
ocean  of  sand  and  fire  never  passed  by  man,  and  whose  shores  are  marked 
only  by  the  circle  of  eternity — was  sitting  at  my  feet,  bound  with  a  silver 
chain ;  he  wTas  the  bravest  of  our  enemies,  and  at  the  head  of  the  bravest 
tribe.  But  what  could  withstand  the  shield-bearers  of  Egypt!  His  horse¬ 
men  were  overthrown,  his  tern  was  ashes,  and  his  brazen-headed  spear  was 
as  the  willow'  in  the  hands  of  a  child.  In  the  scorn  of  the  hour  I  demand¬ 
ed  of  my  royal  captive  what  he  thought  of  the  hope  of  those  Hebrews  to 
break  their  chains. 

“There  i3  no  human  hope,”  said  the  ancient  man,  “  while  such  an  army 
as  that  before  us  lies  ready  to  consume  them,  as  flame  consumes  the  chaff 
of  the  harvest  floor.” 

But  he  pronounced  the  words  with  a  solemnity  unsuited  to  my  scorn  ; 
and  I  again  asked  him.  “No  human  hope,”  said  I,  “Prince  of  the  Oasis 
of  Zophir!  and  what  other  hope  have  they!  Are  they  magicians!  Can 
they  call  up  spirits  from  the  fire  or  the  waves  !  Can  they  bring  the  thun¬ 
der  and  the  hail  to  fight  for  them!  Can  they  call  the  great  god  Apis,  to 
drive  his  people  with  his  horns  into  the  fathomless  surges  of  the  Western 
Sea!” 

Zaraph  was  silent,  but  his  eye  was  fixed  above  with  a  calm  intensity,  as 
if  he  gazed  into  the  heights  of  heaven,  and  gazed  less  with  his  eye  than  his 
mind. 

“  Mighty  chieftain  of  the  mighty,”  he  at  length  said,  and  bowed  his  an¬ 
cient  brow  before  me,  “  invincible  warrior,  favoured  pillar  of  the  eternal 
throne  of  Misraim,  how  shall  thy  servant  open  the  weary  lips  of  age  before 
the  son  of  power  and  wisdom  !” 

I  honoured  the  old  man  tor  his  valour  and  his  years,  and,  taking  him  by 
the  hand,  bad  him  speak  all  that  rested  on  his  soul. 

“  Prince,  said  he,  “I  am  this  day  ninety  years  old ;  and  it  is  not  from 
the  lips  of  him  who  longs  to  be  silent  forever  that  the  words  of  falsehood 
should  flow.  But  you  are  a  warrior  and  you  cannot  know  fear;  you  are  a 
sage,  and  you  must  love  truth.  Then  let  the  truth  be  told.  The  day  of 
the  evil  of  Egypt  is  at  hand!” 

I  involuntarily  half  drew  my  scimetar.  Disdain  of  the  slaves  whose  eye 
should  never  have  dared  to  lift  itself  from  the  dust  of  Egypt,  and  even  re¬ 
sentment  at  the  rashness  of  the  prisoner  who  could  offer  this  intolerable  in¬ 
sult  to  the  majesty  of  a  kingdom  as  old  as  the  stars  and  as  imperishable  as 
the  foundation  of  the  earth,  flashed  from  my  eyes  and  quivered  in  my  frame. 
But  the  laws  of  Egypt  made  the  prisoner  sacred.  Reluctantly  I  checked 


'ay  wrath ;  and,  dashing  the  scimetar  back  into  its  sheath,  bade  him  go 
through  his  whole  tale  of  rebellion. 

The  old  man  saw  my  wrath,  and,  thrice  bowing  his  turban  to  the  ground, 
pronounced  in  an  unchanged  voice,  “  Let  the  pleasure  of  my  lord  be  done 
upon  his  servant.  But,  since  it  is  his  command  that  I  speak  the  truth,  the 
truth  shall  be  spoken.  The  forefathers  of  Zaraph — may  they  rest  in  the 
shadow  of  the  stars,  until  the  light  of  the  last  morning  summons  them  to 
glory  ! — were  lords  of  the  dwellers  in  the  mountains  beyond  the  sands  of 
Arabia.  There  they  worshipped  the  lights  of  heaven.  But  a  stranger 
came  among  them,  from  the  lands  beyond  the  Euphrates — a  man  of  years, 
of  great  wealth,  and  of  exceeding  wisdom.  He  was  rich  in  flocks  and 
herds ;  yet  our  hand  was  held  back  from  him.  He  was  bold  in  his  indig¬ 
nation  at  our  altars,  yet  no  man’s  spear  was  raised  against  him.  He  de¬ 
clared  that  the  time  should  come  when  our  altars  were  to  bethrown 
down,  our  tents  turned  into  coals  of  fire,  and  our  tribe  scattered  like  the 
leaves  of  the  date-tree  when  the  fruit  has  fallen.” 

“  And  was  there  no  warrior  among  you”  I  exclaimed,  “to  slay  the  teller 
of  those  evil  tidings  1” 

“All  were  warriors  among  us,”  said  the  old  man,  with  a  look  that  re¬ 
minded  me  of  his  countenance  when  I  saw  him  fighting  at  the  head  of  his 
fierce  horsemen.  '“But  there  was  a  power  round  the  stranger  that  blunted 
the  edge  of  our  wild  fury.  He  told  us  of  things  beyond  the  thought  of 
man ;  of  the  beginnings  of  the  heavens  and  earth ;  of  the  place  of  happiness 
in  which  our  first  ancestors  dwelt — lovely  as  the  spirits  of  heaven,  and  pure 
as  the  dew  before  it  reddens  in  the  dawn — the  sovereigns  of  the  earth 
crowned  with  more  than  the  gold  and  jewels  of  earth’s  kings ;  crowned  with 
the  supremacy  of  beauty,  of  eternal  youth,  of  unclouded  wisdom,  of  the 
heirship  of  glories,  to  which  the  moon  in  her  midnight  splendour,  and  the 
sun  in  his  noonday  strength,  is  pale.  The  altars  of  my  fathers  were  smit¬ 
ten  down  by  his  hand ;  the  wisdom  of  our  wise  men  was  turned  into  folly 
before  his  mighty  words.  He  was  filled  with  the  dark  knowledge  of  things 
not  yet  conceived  in  the  womb  of  the  ages  of  the  world.  All  wondered, 
many  worshipped,  and  some  followed  his  footsteps  through  the  borders  of 
the  land.  We  would  have  made  him  our  king:  but  he  declared  that  he 
was  to  be  a  pilgrim;  to  wander  from  land  to  land,  telling  the  high  mysteries 
of  times  past  and  times  to  come;  till,  at  length,  having  reached  the  spot 
where  his  course  was  to  be  finished,  he  should  there  become  the  father  of 
a  nation,  vast  as  the  leaves  of  the  forest  for  number,  powerful  as  the  storms 
of  the  desert  for  strength,  and  bright  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for  glory.” 

The  old  Arab  remained  with  lips  moving  in  secret  prayer,  his  hands  up¬ 
lifted,  and  his  fading  eyes  fixed,  as  if  he  saw  some  of  those  descending 
shapes  in  which  the  Gods  once  visited  our  fathers.  It  was  impossible  to 
look  upon  him  wuthout  reverence;  and  I  felt  awed  by  the  solemn  sincerity 
of  the  silver-haired  enthusiast.  But,  was  1,  the  chief  of  warriors,  to  be 
overcome  by  the  superstition  of  slaves  1 

“Prince,”  I  said,  after  a  pause,  “yours  is  the  land  of  strange  things. — 
The  man  was  a  Chaldee,  he  was  a  sorcerer,  he  laid  his  spells  upon  your 
senses.  Here  we  should  not  have  been  so  willing  to  listen,  and  thus  not  so 
easy  to  be  deceived.  If  the  slaves  have  rebelled,  their  rebellion  must  be 
punished;  if  their  sorcerers  attempt  to  mislead  them,  their  sorcerers  must. 


6 


be  convicted  by  the  wisdom  of  our  wise  men,  and  then  put  to  the  death 
that  they  deserve. 

Our  conference  was  broken  off  by  a  sound  of  a  trampling  of  cavalry. 
The  beating  of  their  shields,  and  the  braying  of  their  trumpets,  announced 
a  messenger  from  the  king.  Arioch,  the  royal  chamberlain ,  was  the  bearer 
of  the  message,  wrapped  in  its  case  of  purple.  It  was  a  command  to  march 
straight  for  Memphis.  The  old  prince  of  the  Oasis  cast  a  look  of  sorrow' 
round  him,  as  I  read  the  order;  while  I  involuntarily  smiled  at  the  coming 
disappointment  of  his  prediction.  “Not  for  myself  mighty  chieftain,”  said 
he,  “do  I  grieve,  but  for  my  lord  Pharaoh,  in  whose  hands  is  the  life  of  his 
people;  not  for  the  rebellious  sons  of  the  Hebrews,  but  for  the  wise,  the 
wealthy,  ar.d  the  prosperous,  the  sons  of  Egypt.” 

The  trumpets  of  the  army  now  sounded  for  our  march  without  delay.  I 
mounted  my  star-fronted  charger,  and  was  on  the  point  of  spurring  at  the 
head  of  my  ten  thousand  cavalry  across  the  plain,  when  Zaraph,  with  al¬ 
most  the  vigour  of  youth,  sprang  to  my  foot,  and,  embracing  it  said,  “•  Chief¬ 
tain,  you  have  been  generous  to  the  vanquished,  and  the  sorrows  of  the 
captive  shall  never  fall  in  tears  of  doubled  sorrows  on  your  head.  Hear 
me,  then,  for  the  last  time.  Shed  no  drop  of  Hebrew  blood!  Counsel 
your  king  as  you  will;  hate,  scorn,  deride  the  rebellion,  as  you  will;  but, 
again  I  say  to  you,  let  not  your  scimitar  redden  with  a  drop  of  Hebrew 
blood.  There  is  a  man  of  wonders  among  the  people.  He  has  seen  sights 
like  those  shown  to  the  great  pilgrim  ot  my  fathers.  He  has  been  where 
no  other  foot  of  man  could  tread  and  live.  He  has  walked  in  the  furnace 
unconsumed;  as  the  Hebrews  have  walked  on  the  embers  of  affliction, 
and  yet  survive.  He  comes  alone,  but  he  comes  with  more  than  armies. 
His  strength  is  as  the  feebleness  of  second  childhood;  but  vain  will  be  the 
strength  of  thrones  before  him!  He  comes  without  silver  or  gold;  but  the 
silver  and  gold  of  Egypt  will  be  before  him  as  the  dust  that  he  tramples 
with  his  feet.  He  comes  without  the  spear  in  his  hand  or  the  shield  upon 
his  bosom;  but  before  him  the  host  of  Egypt,  the  conquerors  of  the  moun¬ 
tain,  the  desert,  and  the  ocean,  will  be  as  the  bramble  of  the  mountain  before 
the  lightning,  the  sands  of  the  desert  before  the  whirlwind,  and  the  weeds 
of  the  ocean  before  the  storm.” 

His  words  were  pronounced  with  a  deep  sincerity  which  sank  into  my 
■heart.  But  this  was  not  the  time  for  a  soldier  of  Egypt  to  pause.  The 
glittering  squadrons  of  the  royal  guard  now  passed  before  me — a  superb 
sight.  All  human  feelings,  but  those  of  glory,  were  extinguished  in  the 
blaze  of  their  armour  and  the  tossing  of  their  dragon  banners.  I  was  all 
the  warrior  again.  I  gave  the  word  “  Onward  !”  It  was  echoed  by  ten 
thousand  voices.  I  gave  the  reins  to  my  charge,  and  onward  we  poured, 
like  a  cataract  let  loose  from  its  precipice,  rushing,  splendid,  and  irresistible. 

♦  *  *  *  * 

* 

It  was  morning  when  the  sound  of  the  harpers  and  minstrels  that  salute 
the  risiug  of  the  great  lord  of  the  heavens  brought  me  with  my  horsemen 
before  the  city  gates.  I  rode  straightway  to  the  palace,  and  prostrated 
myself  before  the  footstool  of  the  descendant  of  the  conqueror  of  conquer¬ 
ors,  the  lamp  of  wisdom,  and  brother  of  heaven,  Pharoah,  the  king  of  the 
kings  of  earth.  But  his  countenance  was  troubled,  and  no  words  issued 
from  his  lips.  All  the  lords  of  Misraim  stood  before  him,  and  all  trembled 


7 

at  the  tempest  that  gathered  on  his  brow,  and  the  fires  that  dashed  from 
his  eye. 

At  length  he  burst  forth  in  a  voice  of  scornful  rage.  “  Let  the  rebel  be 
brought  before  his  king:  let  the  slave  come  and  defy  the  majesty  of  the 
throne  of  Egypt !” 

From  the  footstool  of  the  royal  canopy  by  which  I  stood,  roy  view  ranged 
over  the  vast  plain  which  surrounded  the  palace.  It  was  crowded  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  reach,  with  troops  and  people.  Under  ttie  brightness  of 
the  ascending  sun,  this  enormous  extent  of  turbans  and  helmets,  of  spears 
gleaming  in  the  rays,  and  of  the  scarlet  and  violet  coloured  robes  of  the 
people,  looked  like  an  immeasurable  bed  of  tulips  and  roses,  all  animated 
with  sudden  life.  The  sight  was  such  as  Egypt  alone  eouid  offer,  and  I 
exulted  in  its  stateliness  and  beauty.  I  little  dreamed  then  how  soon  all 
was  to  be  shadowed  with  the  colour  of  the  grave. 

But,  as  I  fficked  the  multitude  seemed  to  be  moved  by  some  sudden,  yet 
deep  impulse :  it  heaved  to  and  fro  ;  it  shook  wildly;  and  cries  of  wrath, 
and  shouts  of  contemptuous  laughter,  came  mingled,  even  to  the  royal  ears. 
But  the  cause  remained  a  mystery,  until  the  portals  of  the  palace  opened, 
and  a  band  of  the  king’s  bearers  of  the  bow  came  forward  to  the  foot  of  the 
throne.  As  their  circle  opt  .ed  out,  within  it  were  seen  two  ancient  men. 
The  king  burst  out  into  a  haughty  laughter  at  the  sight  of  those  two  heads 
of  the  revolt.  He  cast  his  eyes  round  on  the  myriads  of  the  troops  of 
Misraim,  and  on  the  bold  and  armed  circle  of  his  princes,  and  said,  “  Do 
they  war  against  us  with  the  wind  or  the  straws  of  their  brick-kilns'?  Is  it 
with  the  breath  of  children,  or  the  white  hairs  of  second  childhood,  that  the 
eternal  throne  of  the  Pharoahs  is  to  be  confounded  ?” 

The  words  were  echoed  and  re-eciioed  round  the  circle ;  a  smile  was  on 
every  lip,  and  scorn  in  every  heart.  The  two  leaders  of  the  rebellion 
seemed  to  all,  fitter  for  the  sepulchre  than  for  the  field.  Both  had  reached 
that  age  when  the  body,  though  it  were  of  iron,  is  melting  into  its  original 
elav  ;  and  when  the  mind  is  but  the  memory  of  itself.  Yet,  there  was  a 
difference  in  their  aspect.  The  younger  was  bowed  by  age;  his  locks, 
white  as  snow',  were  thin,  and  his  limbs  were  feeble.  The  elder  still  re¬ 
tained  something  of  the  warrior.  His  port  was  erect,  his  step  firm,  and 
his  eye  that  of  the  falcon;  stately,  bold,  and  endlessly  gazing  round  on  the 
multitude,  he  looked  like  one  of  the  princes  of  the  desert.  His  brother 
looked  like  one  of  ihe  sages  that  in  Babylon  sit  night  by  night  under  the 
date  groves  interpreting  the  stars.  When  he  spoke  his  tongue  seemed  to 
refuse  its  utterance  ;  he  shrank  from  the  king’s  presence,  as  overawed  by 
its  lustre,  and  timidly  gave  up  the  office  of  speaking  before  the  king  to  his 
more  fearless  brother.  Yet  there  was  in  his  bowed  form  a  dignity  which 
threw  the  princes  round  me  into  eclipse,  and  in  his  faint  and  uncertain  voicp 
a  tone  which  penetrated  the  bosom  like  the  voice  from  an  oracle. 

The  humility  of  their  appearance  saved  them.  A  thousand  axe-bearers 
stood  behind  tlie  throne,  who  would  instantly  have  sent  their  blood  reeking 
into  the  earth,  if  Pharaoh  had  but  given  the  sign.  But,  what  was  to  be 
done  with  two  old  men?  Were  the  axes  of  the  king  to  be  dipped  in  blood 
that  was  now  pale  with  years  ? 

“  Are  these  the  rebels?”  Pharoah  demanded  contemptously  of  the  cap.- 
lain  of  the  archers. 


s 


“  We  are  not  rebels,  0,  king  !”  was  the  undaunted  answer  of  the  elder 
of  the  slaves.  “  We  are  the  subjects  of  Egypt;  yet  neither  by  war,  nor 
by  our  law,  neither  by  our  will,  nor  by  the  will  of  Him  in  whose  hand  are 
all  things.” 

The  sound  of  his  powerful  voice,  the  aspect  of  his  vigorous  form,  which 
seemed  endowed  with  a  sudden  majesty,  hushed  every  murmer  of  the  vast 
assemblage.  As  if  by  some  powerful  spell,  the  words  were  borne  to  the 
remotest  edge  of  the  multitude,  and  their  tumult  sank  instantly  into  a  si¬ 
lence  like  that  of  the  grave.  Even  from  that  moment  the  wisdom  of  Za- 
raph  came  to  my  mind,  and  I  doubted.  But  the  heart  of  the  king  was  only 
as  the  fire  while  it  sleeps  among  the  roots  of  the  forest.  Bending  from  the 
height  of  the  throne,  with  a  glance  of  mock  humility,  he  asked,  what  re¬ 
quest  those  new  freeman  had  to  make  to  the  king  of  Egypt.  The  answer 
was  prompt  and  fearless.  “  We  demand,”  said  the  ancient  men,  “that 
we  shall  be  free ;  and  that,  as  the  first  and  noblest  possession  of  freedom, 
we  shall  be  suffered  to  worship  the  Lord  of  the  Hebrews  after  the  law  of 
our  fathers.  And  tor  this  we  demand  to  go  forth  with  our  people,  our  cat¬ 
tle,  and  our  wealth,  into  the  wilderness.” 

My  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  countenance  of  Pharoah,  as  the  words  wmre 
spoken.  It  was  as  the  flame  of  a  furnace.  Fury,  scorn,  and  hatred,  were 
struggling  in  every  feature  of  his  fierce  vissage.  With  a  cry,  he  started 
from  his  canopy,  and  unsheathing  his  seimitar,  rushed  down  to  take  ven¬ 
geance  with  his  own  hand  on  the  insulters  of  his  rights  and  dignity.  But 
this  fate  would  have  honoured  them  too  highly.  We  threw  ourselves  round 
the  furious  king,  and  restrained  him  from  an  act  which  would  have  pollu¬ 
ted  his  sword.  A  sign  from  Pharoah,  as  we  led  him  back,  brought  the 
thousand  axe-bearers  instantly  into  the  midst  of  the  multitude.  All  was 
flight  and  confusion  at  the  flashing  of  those  weapons  which  had  laid  low  so 
many  of  the  princes  of  Egypt,  in  the  short  duration  of  this  merciless  reign. 
The  palace  portals  were  instantly  emptied  of  their  multitude.  But  the  two 
Hebrews  still  remained,  utterly  unmoved,  and  as  if  waiting  to  make  some 
new  appeal  when  the  confusion  had  subsided. 

“  Strike  them  to  the  earth !  Let  the  rebels  be  slain,  and  their  flesh  given 
to  feed  the  fowls  of  the  air  i”  was  the  command  of  Pharoah. 

The  executioners  rushed  at  them  at  the  word,  like  the  bloodhound  upon 
the  deer.  Yet  still  they  stood  with  their  arms  folded  in  their  robes,  and 
their  calm  eyes  fixed  upon  heaven.  A  blaze  of  steel  flashed  against  the 
sun  as  the  weapons  were  raised  with  one  impulse  to  strike.  But  no  blow 
fell.  They  all  remained  suspended,  a3  if  by  some  preternatural  impulse. 
I  looked  round  the  circle  of  princes ;  all  was  mute  with  wonder.  1  looked 
upon  Pharoah.  His  countenance  was  as  the  countenance  of  a  man  over¬ 
whelmed  with  a  sudden  sense  of  the  horrors  that  were  so  soon  to  follow. 
His  frame  writhed  with  anguish,  as  if  the  arrow  of  affliction  had  gone 
through  his  soul.  With  a  groan  he  cried  out,  “Let  the  slaves  begone!” 
and  fell  on  the  ground  convulsed  with  an  agony  never  sent  by  man. 

*****•**'#*##* 

The  day  of  the  great  festival  of  the  Nile  came.  The  multitude  poured 
out  of  all  their  cities  to  worship  the  god  of  rivers,  the  glorious  Nile,  named 
in  our  sacred  books  “  the  Rival  of  the  Heavens,”  the  supplier  of  eternal 
waters,  unborrowed  from  the  fountains  of  the  skies.  1  stood  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne,  as  was  my  place  by  virtue  of  my  command.  All  was 


9 


the  loveliness  of  those  days  when  the  infant  year  blushes  with  the  first 
flowers,  and  veilg  them  with  the  first  tender  foliage.  The  pomps  of  our 
ancient  worship  were  displayed  with  a  grandeur  that  awed  the  heart,  and 
the  riches  of  our  people  with  a  profusion  that  dazzled  the  eye.  The  royal' 
maidens,  the  sacred  tribe,  who  claimed  the  hereditary  right  of  first  draw¬ 
ing  the  sacred  waters  in  their  golden  urns,  and  offering  this  purest  of  all 
tributes  to  the  king;  the  virgin  daughters  of  the  heads  of  cities,  cloathed 
in  white  and  bearing  ensers  of  burning  perfumes ;  the  princes  of  the  pro¬ 
vinces  in  their  war  chariots,  covered  with  precious  stones;  the  whole  daz¬ 
zling  and  stately  luxury  of  the  most  opulent  land  of  the  earth,  spread  out. 
before  the  eye  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  The  river—  hallowred  and  honour¬ 
ed  be  its  name  for  all  generations  ! — the  life-giver  of  my  beloved  and  fa¬ 
mous  land,  looked,  at  that  hour,  worthy  of  all  the  homage  of  its  worship¬ 
pers.  In  this  season,  no  floods  from  Ethiopean  hills  rushed  down  to  tinge- 
its  beauty  with  the  pollutions  of  earth ;  no  sands  torn  up  by  the  whirlwinds 
of  the  desarr.  stained  its  bosom.  Its  blue  expanse  looked  as  if  it  sprung  at 
the  moment  from  the  holy  caves,  where  the  spirits  of  the  dead  drink  the 
waters  of  immortality.  It  was  one  calm  sheet  of  crystal,  one  broad  pel¬ 
lucid  mirror  of  the  cloudless  heaven,  calm  as  the  prosperity  of  our  land  of 
luxuriance,  and  perennial  as  the  fate  which  had  commanded  Egypt  to  be 
the  queen  of  nations  for  ever. 

I  felt  like  an  Egytian  at  this  sight  of  beauty,  to  which  the  world  had  no 
equal ;  and,  when  the  king  descended  from  his  moving  throne  to  throw  the 
first  garland,  a  garland  of  jewels  wrorth  the  ransom  of  kingdoms,  into  the 
stream,  I  instinctively  laised  my  voice  among  the  bursts  of  song  and  triumph, 
which  hailed,  from  the  whole  horizon  around,  the  supremacy  of  the  god  of 
rivers.  Even  the  sullen  countenance  of  Pharoah  was  lighted  up:  he  looked 
on  the  noble  display  with  the  pride  of  a  king,  and  felt,  in  that  moment,  that 
his  throne  was  mighty  beyond  the  power  of  foreign  evil  or  civil  hatred  to 
overthrow. 

I  followed  his  haughty  and  eager  stride  towards  the  borders  of  the  sacred 
stream.  But  there  stood  an  obstacle,  which  broke  up  all  his  visions.  The 
two  ancient  leaders  of  the  rebels  stood  on  the  verge  of  the  Nile.  The  king, 
indignant  at  their  presence,  commanded  them  to  he  instantly  slain,  and 
their  bodies  burnt,  as  was  the  custom  with  those  who  were  accused  of 
insulting  the  dignity  of  our  worship.  But,  amone  the  crowd  of  spearman 
who  rushed  forward  rope. form  his  will,  none  could  lay  his  grasp  upon  those 
feeble  men.  The  spear-point  hung  helpless  in  the  air,  the  uplifted  arm  was 
paralyzed. 

While  all  stood  in  astonishment,  the  Hebrews  spoke.  They  boldly  de« 
manded  once  more,  that  their  countrymen  should  be  suffered  to  take  their 
journey  into  the  Desert  The  king  scorned  an  answer,  or  gave  no  other 
than  a  fierce  gesture  to  the  guards  once  more  to  seize  them.  At  that  in¬ 
stant,  the  feebler  of  the  two  lifted  his  countenance  from  the  earth  for  the 
first  tune  That  countenance  is  before  me  still.  It  had  an  expression  of 
loftiness  and  intense  power,  such  as  I  had  never  seen  in  man.  As  hq 
stood  in  silent  prayer,  his  brother,  without  a  word,  waved  his  stall' over  the 
Nile.  How  shall  I  relate  what  I  then  saw  !  My  soul  still  sickens  aod  faints 
at  the  recollections.  1  had  been  a  soldier  from  a  youth  up.  I  had  fought 
from  the  valley  of  Misraim  to  the  confines  of  India.  1  had  seen  armies 
stretched  in  their  own  slaughter.  But,  until  that  moment,  I  had  never 


(Teen,  I  bad  never  conceived,  a  whole  unbroken  flood  of  carnage.  The 
Nile,  our  lovely,  our  resplendant  Nile,  instantly  rushed  down  before  our 
eyes  a  torrent  of  blood — of  actual  blood — red,  as  if  it  had  at  that  instant 
spouted  from  the  heart  of  the  warrior,  hut  vast,  as  if  the  hearts  of  millions, 
and  empires  had  been  poured  in  its  channel.  The  stream,  too,  was  filled 
with  living  pollution.  It  had  burst  over  its  banks,  and  all  that  it  reached 
died,  as  if  its  touch  were  poison.  All  perished ;  and  its  surface  was  co¬ 
vered  with  corpses,  all  rolling  down  to  ihe  sea.  The  fisb  died ;  the  wild 
beasts,  caught  in  their  thickets  by  the  sudden  inundation,  died  :  the  priests, 
who  had  taken  their  stand  on  the  verge  of  the  sacred  stream,  were  struck 
with  pangs,  as  if  they  had  plunged  into  a  stream  of  molten  ore.  A  vapour 
deadly  as  ever  breathed  from  the  charnel,  uprose  and  darkened  the  banks  to 
the  horizon. 

All  was  terror.  The  priests,  the  minstrels,  the  royal  maidens,  the  multi¬ 
tude,  were  all  driven  madly  into  flight  across  the  plain.  Even  there  death 
seemed  to  pursue  them;  and,  in  the  agonies  of  their  fear,  they  cried  out 
that  the  final  hour  of  the  world  was  come.  Some  saw'  the  gigantic  shapes 
of  our  ancient  kings  bursting  the  tomb,  and  reaping  the  human  harvest 
with  the  sword.  Others  saw  the  serpent  arms  of  the  gods  of  Egypt 
stretched  forth  from  their  clouds,  and  grasping  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  in  folds  of  flame.  I  turned  to  the  king.  He  was  still  gazing- 
on  the  Hebrew  leaders  with  the  look  of  idiotic  wonder.  They  answered 
uot  his  gaze.  Wrapped  in  their  mantles  from  head  to  foot,  they  stood 
like  statues,  with  their  marble  eyes  upturned  to  heaven ;  they  were  hold¬ 
ing  high  communion  with  their  own  thoughts,  or  perhaps,  with  mightier 
things  than  human  thoughts.  As  I  bore  the  king  helpless  and  fainting 
from  the  field,  I  heard  a  voice:  “This  is  for  the  blood  of  the  children  of 
the  Hebrews.” 

The  voice  rang  round  the  plain :  it  filled  the  air,  it  echoed  in  the  forest. 
I  heard  it  when  the  sun  sank,  and  the  moon  shed  her  solemn  light  over  the 
afflicted  land.  In  the  dead  of  the  night,  as  I  stood  in  my  place  by  the  door 
of  the  king’s  chamber,  I  heard  that  voice  ;  and  heard  it  answered  by  a  groan 

from  Pharoah.  as  if  an  Arab  shaft  had  passed  through  his  bosom. 

****** 

On  the  seventh  morning,  the  trumpet  sounded  to  proclaim  to  keep  a  solemn 
feast  in  the  temple  built  by  Psarnmis.  The  diviners  had  triumphed.  The 
glorious  river  once  more  flowed  in  its  crystal  purity.  The  arm  of  the  ene¬ 
mies  ofEgvpt  was  shortened, and  the  land  rejoiced  in  the  firmness  of  her  king. 
The  Hebrews  had  demanded  the  freedom  of  our  slaves  in  vain.  Their  in¬ 
sult  to  the  majesty  of  the  Egyptian’s  god  had  roused  the  vengeance  of  the 
nation,  and,  from  this  hour,  double  chains  and  tenfold  toil  wmre  to  be  their 
portion.  On  this  day  the  royal  proclamation  declared,  that  the  recovered 
majesty  of  the  river,  worshipped  under  the  mystic  semblance  of  its  crea¬ 
tures,  was  to  be  celebrated  by  all  the  lords  of  Egypt.  In  the  train  of  Pha¬ 
roah,  I  entered  the  temple  of  the  Nile. 

When  will  the  world  see  such  structures  again !  In  those  vast  arcades, 
-those  colossal  ranges  of  columns,  those  boundless  roofs  that  looked  like  the 
Canopy  of  the  midnight  heavens;  so  far  and  so  wide  were  they  spread  above 
our  heads,  the  heart  felt  an  instinctive  sense  of  the  littleness  of  man.  The 
whole  magnificence  of  the  kingly  procession  now  seemed  to  sink  into  thy 
magnificence  of  motes  in  the  sunbeam.  Our  long  lines  of  priests  and  princes 


II 


were  diminished  into  insects,  glittering,  indeed,  with  gold  and  gems,  ye'l 
still  but  like  the  glittering  of  insects’  wings.  The  clash  of  our  timbrels, 
the  rich  uproar  of  our  trumpets,  the  harmony  of  our  hosts  of  harpers  and 
singers,  was  lost  in  those  immense  and  lofty  spaces,  like  the  evening  sounds 
of  the  grasshopper.  All  was  awful  grandeur.  We  moved  along,  as  if  the 
bowels  of  some  mighty  mountain,  which  had  let  us  into  the  secrets  of  its 
caverns  to  rebuke  the  pride  of  man. 

At  length,  after  winding  through  these  superb  recesses  to  the  brazen 
gates  of  the  central  shrine,  the  priests  advanced  before  all,  to  begin  the' 
rites.  The  flame  of  their  perfumed  torches  was  the  only  light,  and  the 
smoke  of  their  censers  rose,  richly  clouding  that  light,  as  it  flashed  against 
the  sculptures  of  those  sacred  walls.  Those  sculptures  were  in  themselves 
a  wonder.  There  was  wrought  every  creeping  thing  born  of  the  great 
generating  power  of  nature ;  every  progeny  of  heat  and  moisture ;  every 
creature  of  the  prolific  soil  of  the  Nile;  terrible  and  strange  in  their  shapes, 
thus  shown  by  the  mysterious  light  of  the  worship ;  more  terrible  and  strange 
still  as  emblems  of  those  fearful  powers  which  rule  the  world  of  spirits,  and 
appeal  to  the  guilty  dead  with  endless  torment. 

But  at  the  moment  of  sacrifice,  when  Pharoah  was  setting  his  foot  on  the 
steps  of  the  high  altar,  aud  the  incense  was  already  in  his  hand  to  be  flung 
Upon  the  blaze,  the  two  Hebrews  stood  in  his  presence.  In  that  hour  I  felt 
appalled.  All  around  me  was  gloom,  mystery,  and  awe.  Even  the  lifeless 
shapes  that  by  thousands  and  myriads  were  wrought  out  of  the  face  of  the 
rock  might  have  appalled  the  heart.  But  at  the  sight  of  those  two  ancient 
men,  thus  standing  unshaken  in  the  very  footsteps  of  the  tyrant,  I  felt  a 
preternatural  consciousness  of  some  unspeakable  evil  at  hand.  With  the 
tone  and  aspect  which  had  defied  the  king  on  the  banks  ot  ’the  Nile,  they 
now,  in  its  temple,  demanded  the  instant  freedom  of  the  multitudes  of  Is¬ 
rael. 

But  they  were  now  far  from  the  sacred  stream  which  they  had  the  pow¬ 
er  of  polluting.  They  stood  under  the  centre  of  that  mighty  temple  which, 
to  them,  might  be  a  dungeon  ;  they  were  surrounded  with  spears  and  axes, 
from  which  there  could  be  no  escape.  Pharoah’s  countenance,  exulting 
in  the  conviction  that  his  enemies  had  now  rashly  thrown  themselves  into 
his  hand,  exhibited  all  the  haughty  vindictiveness  of  his  nature.  “You 
demand  freedom  for  your  fellow  slaves,”  said  he ;  “  first  demand  it  for 
yourselves.”  The  Jewish  leaders  were  silent.  “Well,  freedom  ye  shall 
have.  Before  this  foot  stirs  from  the  spot  where  I  now  plant  it,  ye  shall 
both  be  free;  free  as  the  flame  on  yonder  altar;  free  as  the  ashes  of  the 
guilty  scattered  into  the  air ;  free  as  the  gust  that  wafts  them,  a  sign  to  all 
traitors,  rebels,  for  ever !” 

As  he  spoke  the  word,  two  bands  of  the  priesthood  rushed  forward;  one 
to  heap  fire  on  the  high  altar,  the  other  to  sieze  the  criminals  and  throw 
them  into  the  flame,  I  shuddered  at  this  horrible  sentence,  and  flung  my 
mantle  over  my  head  that  I  might  not  see  their  dying  struggles.  There 
was  a  total  silence  for  a  while.  I  raised  the  mantle.  All  was  darkness  : 
the  furious  blaze  of  the  altar  had  sunk  into  a  glimmer,  but,  by  that  expiring 
light,  I  could  still  see  the  two  Hebrews,  standing  like  the  shades  of  the 
dead,  with  their  pale  and  solemn  faces  sternly  fixed  on  the  king.  At  length 
1  beheld  the  ominous  staff  lifted  up  and  waved  above  the  altar.  Heavens! 
what  a  sight  of  terror  followed  !  I  saw  from  the  embers,  which  had  sunk 


■to  their  last  spark,  a  volume  of  sudden  fire  burst  forth,  as  if  from  the  ver 
entrails  of  a  volcano.  Broad  gushes  of  lurid  light  that  withered  the  eye 
shot  up  to  the  roof  of  the  temple,  aad  showed  every  frowning  sculpture 
every  terrible  emblem,  every  mystic  motto  hid  in  the  endless  tracery  o 
those  gigantic  vaults,  as  distinctly  as  if  the  sun  in  his  noon  had  brokei 
through.  And  still  the  blaze  from  the  altar  spread,  till  all  was  conflagra 
tion.  Founts  and  cataracts  of  flame,  of  every  intense  splendour,  from  sul 
phureous  blue  to  the  blaze  that  looked  as  if  it  passed  through  blood,  darted 
rolled,  and  whirled,  round  the  walls,  entwined  every  column,  and  coiled 
like  myriads  of  enormous  serpents,  along  every  line  and  circle  of  the 
boundless  architecture.  All  around  us,  all  above  us,  was  fire.  Our  eyes 
were  dazzled  with  the  glare;  our  ears  were  deafened  with  the  roar.  Round 
the  foot  of  the  altar  a  thick  and  deadly  fume  arose.  It  arose  from  a  circle 
of  ashes ;  the  priests,  w  ho  had  stood  within  the  sacred  circle,  had  fallen 
victims  on  their  own  shrine.  The  flame  had  enwrapped  them,  and  the} 
were  consumed  bodily.  In  this  cavern  of  fire  there  was  now  no  sound  but 
of  the  tremendous  element  that  had  mastered  all.  All  w'ere  dumb  with  ter¬ 
ror;  king,  priest,  warrior,  alike  withered  in  soul,  all  prostrate  before  the 
majesty  of  Death. 

From  the  ground  I  glanced  once  more  towards  the  authors  of  our  calami¬ 
ty.  They  were  standing  unmoved,  unscorched,  unterrified.  Their  hoary 
locks  were  even  unwraved  in  the  whirlwind,  that  swept  the  flame  in  resist¬ 
less  eddies  through  the  whole  range  of  the  temple:  At  that  moment  I 
saw  the  staff  lifted  again.  Thunder  rolled,  the  wralls  shook,  the  flame 
swelled  and  volumed  with  tenfold  fury  round  the  walls;  and,  could  I  believe 
my  failing  senses ;  the  very  walls  suddenly  teemed  with  hideous  life.  Every 
sculpture  moved  and  quivered;  the  innumerable  tribes  of  repules,  which 
labour  of  ages  had  carved  in  tha  granite,  started  into  unhallowed  vitality. 
The  frog,  the  lizard,  the  viper,  the  scorpion,  the  toad,  every  loathsome 
shape  of  creeping  things,  the  half-formed  offspring  of  slime,  the  finned,  the 
fanged,  the  hundred-footed,  the  poisonous,  the  pestilential,  an  endless  crowd 
of  those  fearful  sports  of  Nature,  which  in  mercy,  she  conceals  from  the 
eye  of  man  in  the  depths  of  the  w  aters,  all  came  forth  to  the  light ;  all  swel¬ 
led  to  a  size  in  itself  revolting  and  frightful;  all  in  hideous  energy  revelling, 
twining,  hissing,  and  hanging  their  polluted  clusters  around.  The  nostrils 
turned  awray,  the  eye  recoiled,  the  touch  shuddered,  the  heart  sank  at  the 
sight.  Still,  down  they  poured,  as  if  the  very  walls  were  turned  into  their 
living  substance ;  still  they  dropped,  they  sprang,  they  showered,  from  every 
spot  of  the  mighty  architecture.  The  curse  of  reptile  life  was  come  to  the 
full  upon  its  worshippers. 

At  length  the  very  horror  of  the  sight  gave  us  strength.  We  started 
from  the  ground  The  king  dismayed,  exhausted,  and  covered  with  the 
pallidness  of  the  grave,  made  a  desperate  effort  to  escape,  at  least,  into  the 
day,  if  there  he  was  to  die.  I  followed  his  tottering  steps.  With  inde¬ 
scribable  difficulty  we  at  last  reached  the  portal  of  the  temple.  There  we 
breathed-— but  no  more.  All  before  us  was  fear  and  flight.  The  land  was, 
like  the  temple,  moving  with  reptile  life,  Wherever  the  foot  trod,  it  trod 
upon  reptile  life.  Wherever  the  sight  glanced,  it  was  startled  by  some 
form  of  loathing.  Egypt  looked  with  double  horror  on  the  evil  done  by 
things  which  it  had  once  placed  on  its  altars.  The  food,  the  drink,  the  pil¬ 
low,  the  hour  of  rising,  the  hour  of  going  to  rest,  all  was  turned  into  loath.- 


13 


sng :  all  was  fierce  repulsion,  intolerable  disgust,  the  unspeakable  sickness 
of  the  senses  and  the  soul.  Still  on  they  poured.  We  were  flooded  by  the 
reptile  tides  We  crushed,  burned,  buried  them  in  vain.  They  over¬ 
whelmed  us  by  millions  of  millions.  The  sky  seemed  to  rain  them,  the 
dust  to  engender  them:  every  tree,  every  branch,  every  leaf,  cast  them 
forth,  till  the  land  grew  poisonous ;  all  the  employments  of  human  existence 
stopped,  and  men,  in  dying  bitterness,  cursed  the  day  that  they  were  born. 
*  *  ~  *  *  *  * 

New  evils  were  at  hand.  Our  frontier  horsemen  came  flying  in  with 
news  of  war.  The  Arab  chieftains  had  refused  the  tribute.  They  had 
sent  round  a  banner  to  all  the  kindred  of  Ishmael  in  the  Desert;  and  the 
whole  border,  from  Damascus  to  Pelusium,  was  in  arms,  as  if  by  a  command 
of  our  evil  genius.  The  calamities  of  Egypt  had  stirred  them  up  to  revolt ; 
and  the  revolt  was  about  to  be  followed  by  furious  invasion.  I  was  sum¬ 
moned  to  the  council  held  in  this  emergency.  The  king  demanded  my 
advice.  It  was  plainly  given.  Reprobating  the  feeble  policy  which  had 
withdrawn  our  frontier  armies,  to  waste  their  valour  in  watching  slaves,  I 
counselled  instant  vigour.  I  declared  that  war  must  be  met  by  war,  rebellion 
by  speedy  punishment;  and  that  the  royal  tribute,  if  not  brought  in  the 
hands  of  the  Beni-Ishmael,  must  be  sought  for  in  the  ashes  of  their  tents. 
AH  applauded  the  advice:  andPharoah,  throwing  over  my  neck  the  golden 
links  of  his  own  sword  chain,  and  ordering  a  jewelled  robe  of  state,  worth 
one  of  the  provinces  of  Egypt,  to  be  hung  upon  my  shoulders,  made  me 
on  the  spot  commander  of  all  the  armies  of  Misraim. 

I  rejoiced  in  this  good  fortune.  The  pomps  of  Memphis  had  become 
fearful  in  my  sight.  Wild  dreams  haunted  me.  Wilder  thoughts  came 
over  me,  like  a  cloud,  in  my  waking  hours.  I  had  begun  to  feel  strange 
doubts  of  the  wisdom  of  that  worship,  which  was  as  old  as  the  foundations 
of  the  throne.  I  involuntarily  asked  myself,  could  the  gods  of  Egypt  be 
given  for  its  tormentors  1  Could  the  power  of  turning  those  gods  into  scorn 
be  given  but  by  some  God  higher  than  they!  Or,  could  that  higher  God, 
that  wielder  of  the  elements,  that  scorner  of  the  glories  and  the  pride  of 
Egypt,  be  on  the  side  of  injustice!  Those  feelings  rapidly  spread  over  the 
whole  surface  of  my  mind.  The  sound  of  war  came  to  me,  as  the  sound 
of  the  rushing  stream  to  the  traveller  in  the  Desert.  The  fever  of  my  spirit 
parched  me  no  more.  I  put  on  my  armour,  took  my  spear  in  my  hand,  and 
marched  forth  from  Memphis  at  the  head  of  troops  that  were  fit  to  bear  the 
dragon  banner  of  Egypt  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

We  made  rapid  marches  along  the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  the  Desert,  that 
we  might  meet  the  rebellious  sons  of  Ishmael  before  a  hoof  of  their  camels 
should  defile  the  sacred  soil  of  Egypt.  AH  was  the  exultation  of  the  war¬ 
rior’s  heart,  as  I  looked  from  the  heights  along  the  endless  columns  of 
chariots,  horse,  and  spearmen,  that  moved  among  the  hold  hills  and  rocky 
valleys  bordering  that  bright  and  ever  billowy  sea.  But  when  we  entered 
rn  the  Desert  itself;  when  we  saw  the  boundless  waste  spread  before  us, 
without  path  or  landmark,  without  tree  or  herb,  without  river  or  fount,  our 
pearts  died  within  us,  and  we  felt  that,  in  all  the  grandeur  of  man,  there 
still  is  weakness,  as  the  weakness  of  the  sand  tossed  in  the  whirlwind. 
Einemy  we  saw  none,  but  the  most  unconquerable  of  all  enemies,  the  Desert ; 

2 


i; 


14 


the  ground  on  which  we  trod,  as  treading  on  the  floor  of  a  furnace,  and  th@ 
sun,  which  shot  down  upon  our  heads  rays  as  fierce  as  flights  of  burning 
arrows.  Against  this  war  what  was  man]  Our  horses  died  of  pestilence  ; 
our  chariots  were  left  broken  in  the  wilderness ;  the  scorching  wind  pierced 
us  to  the  bone,  withered  the  nerve  of  the  strong,  and  made  the  heart  of  the 
bold  faint  within  him.  After  months  of  fruitless  search  for  the  flying  Arabs, 
whom  we  could  no  more  reach  than  we  could  the  clouds  of  heaven,  I  gave 
the  word  to  retrace  our  steps  towards  the  land  of  Egypt.  Broken  and  faint 
as  we  were,  the  command  was  new  life  to  the  whole  host.  It  was  full  of 
the  memory  of  that  luxurious  rest  which  the  soul  covets  in  a  dry  and  thirsty 
land.  It  told  even  the  meanest  heart  among  our  thousands  of  the  pure  and 
refreshing  draughts  of  the  Nile,  the  deep  bowers  of  roses,  the  olive  groves 
on  its  banks,  the  delicious  evenings,  when,  under  the  vines,  in  the  cool  air, 
all  was  music,  serenity,  and  the  simple  and  undisturbed  delights  of  nature. 

By  sunset  of  the  third  day,  the  army  had  reached  the  brow  of  the  moun¬ 
tains  that  overlook  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  With  the  delight  of  weariness 
and  famine  in  sight  of  rest  and  luxury,  we  gazed  on  the  immense  extent  of 
that  richest  spot  of  the  bounty  of  Nature  and  the  labours  of  man,  glittering, 
like  a  huge  serpent,  bright  with  all  the  hues  of  summer,  under  the  light  of 
the  descending  sun.  Groves,  gardens,  palaces;  the  solemn  beauty  of  the 
pyramids,  illumined  by  the  rays,  like  enormous  piles  of  burnished  gold;  the 
Nile,  the  glory  of  all,  floating  down  in  the  midst  of  this  unrivalled  landscape 
like  a  vast  vein  of  molten  silver ;  all  lay  before  us  in  lovely  vision.  In 
universal  triumph,  we  sent  up  hymns  to  the  protecting  gods  of  Egypt ;  raised 
rude  altars  of  stones  of  the  mountain  tops ;  and,  after  hours  of  carousal, 
flung  ourselves  down  to  sleep,  until  the  morn  should  bid  us  go  forth  into 
the  richness  of  the  land.  It  was  then  that  I  heard,  for  the  first  time,  from 
the  peasantry  of  the  hills,  the  long  succession  of  miseries  that  the  wrath  of 
the  Hebrew  leaders  had  laid  upon  my  country.  But,  while  those  fell,  I 
had  been  in  the  wilderness;  and  happy  I  now  felt  the  days  of  toil  and  the 
nights  of  watching,  the  fiery  wind  and  scorching  sand,  which  had  kept  me 
far  from  a  share  in  such  agonies.  Yet,  where  were  their  traces  now! 
As  if  a  superior  hand  had  been  held  over  Egypt,  to  shower  fertility  on  it  in 
recompense  for  its  afflictions,  all  was  now  more  luxuriant  than  ever, 

My  mind  still  remained  disturbed  with  many  thoughts;  and,  leaving  my 
tent,  I  took  my  spear  in  my  hand  and  walked  forth  into  the  moonlight, 
which  was  then  lying  broad  upon  the  hills,  and  flooding  the  tents  of  my 
sleeping  army  with  unspeakable  lustre,  I  have  never  seen  a  night  of  such 
beauty.  The  sky  was  a  sheet  of  living  azure  ;  the  stars,  thick  as  dew-drop3 
on  the  leaves  of  the  forest,  sparkled  and  shot  rays  of  living  diamond;  the 
moon  was  an  orb  of  serene  flame.  The  whole  creation  seemed  to  have  as¬ 
sumed  a  more  etherial  character.  I  could  have  thought  that  its  grosser 
substance  had  been  suddenly  purified  and  changed  into  light  and  life.  It 
was  a  night  on  which  an  irresistable  impression  of  the  presence  of  be¬ 
ings  mightier  than  man,  subdued  the  mind.  In  strange  awe  I  prostrated 
myself,  and  offered  up  a  supplication  to  the  great  invisible  Lord,  by  whom 
all  this  world  of  wonders  lived,  to  guide  me  into  his  knowledge :  if  the  gods 
of  Egypt  were  divine,  to  make  me  their  more  unfailing  worshipper,  but,  if 
there  were  another,  mightier  than  they,  another,  who  bore  no  shape  of  ere- 


15 


;ated  thing,  another,  not  to  be  worshipped  by  our  fires,  nor  bowed  down  to 
in  our  temples,  nor  won  by  those  sad  and  fearful  sacrifices  of  human  life, 
which  Egypt  had  so  long  offered  to  the  work  of  her  hands;  then,  to  let  me 
be  enlightened  by  the  truth,  let  the  idol  have  my  homage  no  more,  but  let 
me  bow  down  my  spirit  to  the  Spirit  of  Heaven. 

When  I  lifted  up  my  countenance  again,  a  wondrous  change  had  come. 
The  moon  was  covered  with  the  hue  of  blood,  the  stars  had  died.  All  be¬ 
low  was  dark  as  the  grave.  I  looked  round.  My  army  was  locked  in  a 
torpor  as  profound  as  if  it  had  been  drugged  with  opium.  I  alone  was 
awake :  and  fearfully  were  my  senses  kept  watching.  It  was  midnight. 
At  that  moment,  an  echo,  like  the  burst  of  a  thousand  trumpets,  broke  from 
the  skies.  It  was  followed  by  the  charge  of  a  tremendous  army. — The 
skies  opened,  and.  showed  flames  that  took  the  shape  of  horse  and  horse¬ 
man,  chariot  and  charioteer.  A  mass  of  living  fire  rushed  down  over  Egypt. 
Leading  all,  and  terribly  conspicuous  above  all,  was  a  form,  whose  gigantic 
wings  seemed  to  spread  from  verge  to  verge  of  the  horizon.  Perpetual 
shafts  of  lightning  darted  from  the  path  of  the  Destroyer,  and  a  sword  like 
an  angry  comet,  waved  and  blazed  before  him  up  to  the  heights  of  heaven. 

In  the  midst  of  these  overwhelming  terrors  of  the  air  I  was  recalled  to 
the  earth;  she  had  her  terrors  too,  in  that  night  of  vengeance.  A  cry  as 
if  the  whole  agony  of  the  human  heart  and  the  whole  concentrated  affliction 
•of  an  undone  people  could  be  poured  on  the  ear  at  once,  smote  me. 

I  looked  down  on  the  long  valley  of  Egypt.  There  all  slumber  was  at  an 
end.  All  was  fierce  and  instant  confusion.  The  multitude  were  rushing 
wildly,  with  torches  in  their  hands,  through  the  cities,  as  if  seeking  each 
other.  Palaces,  temples,  cottages,  all  poured  out  their  inmates;  and  all 
were  filled  with  one  vast  echo  of  lamentation.  That  night  was  the  slaying 
of  the  first-born!  In  every  house,  in  every  field,  in  every  spot  where  hu¬ 
man  life  could  exist  and  be  stricken,  there  was  one  dead.  The  eldest  born 
of  the  throne,  the  infant  in  the  dungeon ;  the  heir  of  the  mighty,  to  whose 
birth  so  many  eyes  looked  forward  as  the  last  crown  of  the  gods  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  princes  of  the  land,  was  a  cold  corpse ;  the  heir 
of  nothing  but  the  poverty  of  his  outcast  father,  was  equally  strick¬ 
en.  The  first-born  of  the  cattle  in  the  field,  of  the  sheep  in  the  fold, 
of  the  bird  in  the  grove,  of  the  wild  beast  in  the  forest,  all  had  fallen. 
Death  had  claimed  his  universal  tribute,  the  first  fruits  of  the  land.  In  the 
midst  of  this  mortal  ruin  a  tempest  rose.  Furious  blasts  rushed  from  the 
clouds,  that  now  gathered  big  with  thunder.  Rain,  like  cataracts,  burst 
down,  tearing  up  the  fertility  of  the  rich  expanse  of  pasture  and  tillage, 
garden  and  bower  beneath.  Sheets  of  lightning  that  blinded  the  eye  hung 
quivering  over  the  palace  roofs,  and  they  dissolved  into  dust  and  ashes 
under  the  subtle  intensity  of  the  flame.  Thunderbolts  swept  along  the 
ground,  and  tore  up  the  foundations  of  tower  and  temple.  It  was  a  night 
to  be  much  remembered  in  Egypt. 

In  the  midst  of  this  convulsion  of  the  storm,  there  came  one  evil  more, 
the  last  aggravation  of  national  ruin.  In  one  of  the  lapses  of  the  whirlwind, 
I  heard  the  sound  of  the  Desert  horn.  My  blood  curdled  at  the  sound.  I 
knew  our  fate.  The  Arab  robbers  were  at  hand.  They  had  followed  us 
by  thousands  from  the  wilderness,  crouching  like  tigers ;  and  had  only 


16 


waited  till  the  sight  of  our  home  should  relax  the  bonds  of  discipline.  Thei 
had  waited  with  terrible  wisdom ;  for  the  night  found  my  army  utterly  in 
capable  of  resisting  its  wild  and  wily  enemy.  Riot,  giddy  triumph,  anc 
reckless  indulgence,  had  cast  them  all  at  the  feet  of  their  pursuers.  Ven¬ 
geance  was  speedily  sent  forth  among  them.  Hearts  that  never  forgave, 
guided  blows  that  never  failed.  Resistance,  feeble  from  the  first,  soon  de¬ 
generated  into  fight:  but  what  was  the  flight  of  startled  and  terrified 
multitudes  to  the  keen  assault  of  the  horsemen  of  the  Desert,  to  the  instant 
pursuit  to  the  iron  nerve,  to  the  practised  and  indefatigable  determination 
of  blood  !  It  was  no  longer  a  battle,  no  longer  a  flight ;  it  was  a  rout  and 
a  massacre.  I  vainly  tried  to  stem  this  torrent  of  ruin.  I  vainly  tried  by 
hand  and  voice  to  collect  together  a  few  brave  men,  to  rally  the  broken  co- 
cover  the  last  relics  of  the  most  splendid  army  of  my  country. 
All  was  lost.  There  was  a  spirit  of  infatuation  sent  forth  among  them, 
that  drove  them  under  the  very  swords  of  their  destroyers. 

The  storm  still  raged.  The  thunders  rolled  as  if  they  would  rend  up 
the  mountains ;  the  flashes  from  the  clouds  struck  long  paths  through  the 
forests  on  their  sides,  or  kindled  the  thickets  into  boundless  flame.  °  Still 
the  Arabs,  as  numerous  as  the  locust,  and  as  devouring,  gleaned  the  soil  of 
the  last  remnant  of  life,  and  rested  only  when  there  was  no  more  to  destroy 
of  that  renowned  army.  How  I  escaped  I  know  not;  whether  by  the 
chance  that  sometimes  so  strangely  preserves,  or  by  the  protection  of  some 
diviner  guardian.  In  the  midst  of  the  havoc  I  found  myself  carried  fighting 
in  a  circle  of  enemies  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain  pass.  There  double 
darkness  shrouded  all  the  world  below  from  my  sight,  and  there  I  sank  dis¬ 
abled  by  wounds  and  intolerable  fatigue.  I  thought  that  the  hand  of  death 
was  on  me.  Yet  even  in  that  hour  I  rejoiced  that  I  had  fallen,  not  in  the 
intrigues  of  the  palace  ;  not  in  the  dungeons  which  the  jealousy  of  Pharoah 
had  filled  with  so  many  of  the  noble  and  the  wise  of  Egypt ;  not  in  the  hour 
of  guilty  excess ;  not  in  the  hot  pursuit  of  still  guiltier  ambition  ;  but  in  the 
cause  of  my  country.  A  soldier,  I  rejoiced  in  dying  the  death  that  does 
especial  honour  to  a  soldier’s  grave. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

The  sun  rose  over  a  scene  of  unparalleled  devastation.  I  found  myself 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  During  the  night,  in  my  distraction,  I  had  de¬ 
scended  from  the  mountain  ridge,  and  wandered  madly,  I  knew  not  whither. 
On  that  ridge  I  had  left  my  undone  army;  but  I  had  not  left  them  alone, 
lhe  morning  air  was  filled  with  endless  flights  of  the  devourers  that  make 
their  prey  of  the  fallen  lords  of  the  creation.  The  eagle,  the  vulture,  the 
kite,  the  falcon,  all  came  rushing  in  clouds  to  feast  upon  the  dead.  Never 
was  such  a  banquet  spread  for  them  before.  They  fed  on  the  hearts  of  the 
mighty ;  the  flesh  of  princes  were  in  their  talons ;  their  beaks  were  red  with 
the  gore  of  the  chieftains  and  conquerors  of  Asia. 

But  a  new  and  deep  murmur,  as  of  the  sea,  yet  a  voice  of  rejoicing,  ga¬ 
thered  upon  the  wind.  It  rapidly  swelled ;  and  I  could  soon  distinctly  trace 
the  sounds  of  the  Israelitish  tongue.  From  the  gates  of  Memphis  to  the 
k*  °[  was  in  motion.  As  the  increasing  light  penetrated 

through  the  vapours  that  rest  so  thickly  at  dawn  upon  the  river,  I  could 
mark  standards  and  weapons  waving  and  flashing  at  the  head  of  columns  of 


17 


men;  who  seemed  countless  as  the  sand  of  the  ocean.  And  those  were  the 
conquerors  of  Egypt!  those  were  the  masters  of  Pharoah  in  his  pride  and 
fury  of  heart ;  those  were  the  preserved  in  the  chain  of  the  task-masters,  in 
the  war  of  the  elements,  in  the  terrible  career  of  the  destroying  angel.  As 
they  advanced  up  the  valley,  by  thousands  and  millions,  rolling  forward  a 
continual  living  stream,  their  hymns  ascended,  like  the  sound  of  distant 
thunders,  when  the  storm  is  dying  away,  and  the  earth  begins  to  lift  up  her 
countenance  again.  They  sang  their  deliverance,  the  praises  of  their  king — 
‘a  King  of  Glory,  who,  high  above  all  height,  had  yet  looked  down  on  the 
sorrows  of  his  people;  had  brought  them  out  of  their  place  of  sorrow;  had 
broken  off  the  fetters  of  two  hundred  years,  and  called  them  forth  from  the 
bouse  of  bondage.’ 

I  was  now  sunk  in  the  deepest  human  affliction.  My  dreams  of  human 
vanity  were  gone.  I  was  a  general  without  an  army,  a  noble  without  a 
name,  an  Egyptian  without  a  country.  Still,  with  the  spirit  of  loyalty 
strong  in  my  soul,  I  felt  that  there  was  guilt  upon  that  country.  I  had 
seen  Pharoah  in  the  intimate  retirement  of  his  court ;  and  I  had  known  him 
for  a  tyrant,  remorseless,  blind,  and  bloody.  I  had  bowed  myself  down  to 
Our  altars ;  but  I  had  known  the  priesthood  to  be  profligate,  and  the  rites 
cruel.  In  the  bitterness  of  my  soul  I  acknowledged  that  the  punishment 
pf  Egypt  was  righteous.  And  I  cast  the  dust  of  affliction.on  my  head,  as  I 
nade  the  confession  to  the  sun,  that  I  now  saw  rising  before  me,  and  scat¬ 
hing  his  beams  over  the  landscape  in  such  cloudless  beauty. 

But,  while  I  knelt,  the  multitude  came  rolling  on,  below  the  rock  in  whose 
shelter  I  shrank  from  the  general  eye.  First  advanced  the  few  bearers  of 
weapons,  a  bold  and  sinewy  race ;  but  rudely  armed,  to  an  eye  which,  like 
nine,  had  seen  in  succession  all  the  glittering  troops  of  the  oriental  world. 
Then  followed  the  princes  and  elders  of  the  tribes,  the  ancient  sons  of  those 
welve  blessed  by  the  blessing  of  increase,  from  whom  the  mighty  host  had 
lowed — grave  and  silver-haired  councillors,  fit  to  give  the  law  to  nations. 
Then  came  the  innumerable  multitude,  the  twelve  tribes,  under  the  banners 
)f  their  chieftains,  the  future  terrors  of  the  regions  of  idolatry,  with  their 
household  and  their  cattle,  their  camels,  their  oxen,  and  their  sheep,  laden 
?vith  the  produce  of  their  harvests,  the  implements  of  their  husbandry,  and 
he  wives,  handmaidens,  and  infants,  of  the  people.  It  was  a  moving  na- 
ion,  a  whole  kingdom  suddenly  rooted  up  from  its  foundations,  and  sent 
oiling  on  to  crush  all  resistance,  until  it  should  fix  itself  in  some  distant 
and.  Human  nature  never  looked  so  magnificently  powerful  as  in  this  uni¬ 
versal  movement ;  the  heart  of  man  never  contemplated  so  calm  yet  so  ir- 
esistable  a  display  of  those  impulses  which  change  the  fates  of  empires. 
The  eye  of  man  never  saw  a  sight  so  sublime  as  this  infinite  multitude, 
n  all  their  myriads,  advancing  into  the  borders  of  the  wilderness,  boldly 
saving  behind  them  the  land  of  fertility  and  loveliness,  the  land  which  had 
>een  native  to  them  for  generations,  to  march  into  the  desert,  where  all 
vas  famine,  maddening  thirst,  and  superstitious  terror. 

On  the  rock  at  whose  foot  I  lay,  overpowered  with  emotions,  fearful  from 
heir  intensity,  yet  mixed  with  a  strange  delight  from  their  grandeur,  two 
tately  men  now  ascended  from  the  number  of  the  elders,  and  stood,  to  issue 
heir  commands  to  the  tribes  as  they  successively  approached.  I  at  once 


18 


remembered  the  two  Hebrew  leaders.  But  they  were  not  now  as  I  had 
seen  them  before.  I  had  seen  them  slaves  in  the  presence  of  their  king ; 
victims  in  the  grasp  of  power;  supplicants  at  the  footstool  of  a  tyrant  thirst¬ 
ing  for  their  blood.  I  had  seen  them  in  all,  dignified,  calm,  and  resolute. 
Yet  I  had  seen  them  in  adversity.  But  now  all  waschanged.  They  were  in 
their  hour  of  triumph.  They  had  achieved  the  greatest  work  that  the  powers 
of  Heaven  ever  gave  into  the  hands  of  man — the  freedom  of  an  entire  people. 
They  had  inscribed  their  names  among  the  highest  ranks  of  that  roll  which 
gives  down  the  patriot  and  the  hero  to  immortality.  Yet,  in  those  counte¬ 
nances,  which  I  now  saw  gazing  on  the  measureless  current  of  human  ex¬ 
istence  that  flowed  far  and  wide  at  their  feet,  I  saw  no  human  exultation. 
There  was  no  touch  of  scorn  for  the  defeated,  none  of  pride  for  the  conquest. 
All  was  joy  ;  but  it  was  the  elevated  joy  of  beings  who  could  know  mortal 
passion  no  more.  Their  features  wrere  filled  with  a  sublime  hope.  Grati¬ 
tude,  never  taught  by  man,  gave  a  lofty  and  sacred  animation  to  features 
originally  formed  in  the  mould  of  grandeur.  They  looked  up  to  heaven 
and  seemed  to  be  filled  with  the  spirit  of  heaven.  They  looked  on  earth,  and 
seemed  to  reflect  upon  it  the  lustre  which  they  had  caught  from  the  skies, 
I  could  have  fallen  at  their  feet  and  worshipped.  I  could  have  grasped  the 
skirt  of  their  robe,  and  felt  virtue  proceeding  out  of  it  into  my  heart.  I 
could  have  kissed  the  dust  on  which  their  glorious  footsteps  trod,  and  bade 
them  be  my  gods,  and  the  gods  of  my  children,  and  my  children’s  children 
forever. 

But  I  was  yet  only  at  the  gates  of  the  temple,  that  temple  not  built  by 
hands;  I  was  still  an  outcast  idolater,  an  alien  from  the  white-vestured 
family  of  the  truth  and  the  life.  Yet  my  hour  was  not  far  off.  While  I 
still  lingered  in  a  tumult  of  contending  thoughts,  I  heard  the  hymn  of  an 
advancing  tribe ;  it  was  richer  and  more  triumphant  than  the  fullest  song 
of  triumph  that  I  had  heard  among  all  the  host.  It  told  of  victories  to 
come,  to  which  all  the  conquests  of  the  sword  were  false  and  feeble;  vic¬ 
tories  in  which  worlds  were  to  be  the  prize,  and  which  the  universe  was  to 
witness;  defeats  of  beings  of  terrible* might  and  unwearied  malignity,  the 
fallen  throne  of  the  god  of  this  world,  the  captive  prince  of  the  powers  of 
the  air;  the  triumph  of  beings  whose  rejoicing  was  to  be  forever;  the  sons 
of  immortality,  the  elect  of  inscrutable  wisdom,  the  heirs  of  the  kingdom 
which  shall  shine  when  the  diadems  of  earth  are  ashes,  when  the  stars  grow 
dim,  and  the  fabric  of  the  universal  world  shrinks  and  consumes  like  a  gar¬ 
ment  in  the  flame. 

In  the  midst  of  this  tribe  was  borne,  on  the  shoulders  of  a  band  of  priests, 
a  small  temple.  As  it  paused  at  the  foot  of  the  rock,  the  Hebrew  leaders 
prostrated  themselves,  the  priests  prostrated  themselves,  and  the  whole 
multitude  fell  with  their  faces  to  the  ground.  All  was  sacred  silence.  A 
blaze,  of  a  brightness  exceeding  the  broadest  intesity  of  the  sun,  exceeding 
the  keenest  flash  of  lightning,  yet  gentle  and  undazzling  as  the  moonlight, 
stooped  calmly  down  from  the  opening  skies,  and  sat  upon  the  temple,  a 
pillar  of  splendour  to  the  very  heights  of  heaven. 

In  that  moment  of  prostration  its  light  seemed  to  enter  into  my  inmost 
frame.  The  darkness  of  my  soul  was  driven  away  like  the  mists  of  night 
before  the  sunbeams.  In  that  hour  I  made  my  vow.  It  was  irrevocable 


19 


J.*hre£  mrelf  f  ?e  fe®tofJthe  hoIy  leaders  of  the  people,  and  implored 
them  that  I  might  be  suffered  to  follow  their  path  through  the  world  P  The 

ai  /lW  ^  C°tUntry  st00,d  bre^re  my  thought,  and  were  from  that  instant 
an  abomination  to  my  soul  The  people  rose  from  the  ground  again.  The 

hymn  began.  The  march  moved  onward.  I  plunged  into  the  first  rivulet 
that  wound  across  the  plain,  and  mystically  washed  away  with  its  water  all 
the  impurities  of  my  old  nature.  I  was  thenceforth  an  Israelite  !  I  wor- 
shipped  the  King  of  Kings!  and,  with  a  broken  spirit,  yet  with  a  rejoicing 

fh  wridgave  the  ast  °°k  t0  Egypt’  and  followed  the  Ch05en  PeoPle  int° 


-T 


'•  '  «!> 

*: :  ■  .  -i  '  •  \  '■  « 


•  w  ;  ' 


'i 


Family  Tickets,  to  admit  Five  during 
the  Season, . 

j  $3  00 

Season  Tickets,  not 

Tickets,  per  dozen, 

transferable,  . 

•  ii  00 

0  i 

.  o 

'  k 
(/ 

vV 

"v/ 

> 

- 

.v 

